FILE – In this Sept. 26, 2017, file photo, longtime Donald Trump associate Roger Stone arrives to testify before the House Intelligence Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is examining previously undisclosed contact between former Trump campaign officials and a Russian figure alleged to have tried to sell them dirt on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign. But Stone and Michael Caputo say they believe the man was an FBI informant trying to set them up. He denied that to the Washington Post. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Roger Stone was in court today for sentencing and things did not go all that well for him.

Might be of interest to some that also present but presumably not arguing is Molly Gaston, another prosecutor in that division who handled Andrew McCabe probe and Greg Craig trial

— Josh "ALL CAPS country name and !" Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 20, 2020

Hearing is underway now. So far no mention at all from the judge of the change in recommendation or prosecution staffing that roiled DOJ last week

— Josh "ALL CAPS country name and !" Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 20, 2020

And there's our first mention of a pardon, but not for Stone. Judge notes one sentencing letter was from someone whom Stone sought a pardon for….

— Josh "ALL CAPS country name and !" Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 20, 2020

…I can assure you that defense attorneys and many judges have been making that point for a long time but we don’t usually succeed in getting the government to agree.'

— Josh "ALL CAPS country name and !" Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 20, 2020

….Mr. Credico understood that it was just Stone being Stone.'

— Josh "ALL CAPS country name and !" Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 20, 2020

Crabb now up for govt. Judge questions the language in revised filing about 'perhaps technically applicable.' 'What exactly are you trying to tell me here?'
Crabb sounds tougher than Barr filing. Crabb: 'Our position is this enhancement applies…and we ask the court to apply it.'

— Josh "ALL CAPS country name and !" Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 20, 2020

She says even if taking (killing?) the dog is viewed as property damage, the guidelines treat it as a violent threat. She says she can handle the "vague nature of the threat" in the final sentence.

— Josh "ALL CAPS country name and !" Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 20, 2020

Judge is accusing Ginsberg of double standard. Sometimes wants FBI/Mueller issues considered. Sometimes not. Ginsberg notes that both probes couldn't find evidence of collusion. (He said any, which is not what Mueller said.)

— Josh "ALL CAPS country name and !" Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 20, 2020

Not going well for Stone so far, but this is pretty typical, as the judge notes. The guidelines go high and then the judge will sentence below them…She's noted there are mitigating circumstances on both of those enhancements.

— Josh "ALL CAPS country name and !" Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 20, 2020

The final sentence is 40 months in prison. The sentence is deferred until his appeals are exhausted.

(For the best play-by-play of the day, this is your source)

Key observations.

1. The DOJ attorney who is representing the alleged revised sentencing recommendation on Stone has basically disavowed the revised estimate and is making the same claims as were made in the original recommendation.

2. The judge is using facts never adjudicated and which are not only speculative but utter bullsh** to enhance the sentence:

Jackson says the House Intelligence Committee's Russia probe was stymied because of Stone. His obstruction, she says, "led to an inaccurate, incomplete and incorrect report."

— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) February 20, 2020

3. It is pretty obvious that the new US Attorney for DC, Timothy Shea, has zero authority over his staff:

https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1230522479271084035

After AG Barr told the world the first sentencing recommendation for Stone was grossly out of whack, his prosecutor—the guy who replaced the guys who quit in protest—argued today for all the enhancements that bump the sentence as high as 9 years. That looks like a revolt.

— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) February 20, 2020

IN SUM:

-DOJ calls for 7-9 years for Stone.
-Barr intervenes (and Trump tweets)
-DOJ reverses, calling for lesser sentence
-Stone prosecutors quit case
-New prosecutors re-reverse, argue for 7-9 years; won't say who ordered 1st reversal; defend prosecutors who quit.

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 20, 2020

4. The judge seems rather obsessed and obsessive over why the government changed its sentencing recommendation.

Questioned by Jackson on who wrote the second memo, Crabb says he cannot disclose that.

— Dan Friedman (@dfriedman33) February 20, 2020

5. For all the tough talk, the sentence came in pretty much where the second sentencing recommendation fell and about half of what the original recommendation was–and pretty much what Manafort got. I think the judge is trying to avoid provoking a pardon of Stone just to make a point.